Maintenance Error Decision Aid (MEDA)

MEDA Five Basic Steps 1. Event; Following an event, it is the responsibility of the maintenance organization to select the error caused aspects that will be investigated. 2. Decision; After fixing the problem and returning the aircraft to service, the operator decides if the event was maintenance-related. If yes, the operator performs a MEDA investigation. 3. Investigation; Following a structured form (specifically designed for MEDA), the operator carries out an investigation. The investigator records general information with respect to the aircraft, when the maintenance and the event occurred, the event that precipitated the investigation, the error that caused the event, the factors that contributed to the error and possible prevention strategies. 4. Prevention Strategies; Management reviews, prioritizes, implements and then tracks prevention strategies (process improvements) in order to avoid or reduce the likelihood of similar errors occurring in the future. 5. Feedback is provided to the maintenance workforce in order for Maintenance personnel to know that changes have been made to the maintenance system as a result of the MEDA process. Management is responsible for affirming the effectiveness of employees participation and validating their contribution to the MEDA process by sharing investigation results with them. Definitions An error is a human action (or human behavior) that unintentionally deviates from the expected action (or behavior).
A contributing factor is anything that affects how a maintenance technician or inspector does his/her job. It is easier to understand the concept of contributing factor using a model: